"I'm the smarter one" (Maximillian)

Goro hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings, and the sudden presence of the boy next to him made flinch. He quickly realised the boy wasn’t particularly aware of him, either, and Goro settled back down against the wall, reminding himself to stop being so on edge and relax. “I’ve done nothing suspicious during his time here, no one knows who I am, Nick isn’t here and if he was he wouldn’t risk starting a fight in public anyway. Both he and I had been taught better than that, at least.” He ran through his head.

As the boy began talking, Goro was surprised. He’d expected some kind of typical teenage angst, not a reflection of his own thoughts. Initially, he’d just been getting an idea of where the boy was through echolocation, but now his gaze slowly drifted over to the other. “Looks to be about sixteen or fifteen, blue hair. Noticeably muscular, about 10 centimetres shorter than me.” He thought. Despite his best efforts to relax, he couldn’t stop himself from trying to figure out his chances in a fight with him, should it come to that. In a place like this, it was unlikely to go in the bat’s favour.

As he continued to speak, however, Goro began to pick out things he just couldn’t agree on. The basic idea of what he was saying was right, but it felt more and more like his perspective just wasn’t agreeing with Goro. This kid was speaking with so much confidence in his words, and Goro’s brain couldn’t stop his mouth from arguing with him.

“Should they so much as attempt to enslave those with quirks, the repercussions would destroy them. Not that that’s a bad thing; the quirkless have definitely more than earned something like that with their treatment of us already. If that violence would lead to raising the position of Quirkers, it’s for the better.” The moment his mouth closed, he was already yelling at himself mentally. His face remained cold and emotionless as he pushed his glasses up with his middle finger, but inside he was screaming. Why, why, why did he speak up? And why did he make his views so clear?

It took Goro a moment to notice the small drop in temperature after Max had shown up; the thin layer of fluff under his suit had insulated him. But his hands were starting to get colder now, and the realisation dawned on him that this was probably an effect of the boy’s quirk. He didn’t mind it though, and didn’t make any kind of attempt to move away from Max.

Ah, so Max is from UA as well, and he knew Nick. Being compared to Nick made Goro’s insides twist. Every part of him desperately wanted to snap that he’s nothing like Nick, not a failure like him, but that would certainly give too much away immediately. He frowned slightly and pushed his glasses up again, but when Max called Nick ‘Bug Loser’ he smirked. “Do you mean Nick Cross? We knew each other. Bug Loser is definitely an appropriate name for him.” He kept his response short, anything else he wanted to say would be sharing information someone from UA has no need to know.

Goro himself hadn’t had many negative experiences with quirkless people, beyond those typical for a mutant. From the moment the Gifted Underground had taken him in, he’d been raised to hate those without Quirks, and so far, he’s had no reason to doubt it. “Whether they’re against us because they actually hate us or just because their peers do, they’re still just as bad. It isn’t our responsibility to protect people who haven’t done anything to deserve it, and if they try and make us do that in warfare then all they’ll do is start another war against Quirkers. And there’s an arms race they cannot win.” He gestured in the direction of the rail-gun with his wing. “Something like that is comparatively useless to even someone as worthless as Nick, with how much energy it requires. From, what little I’ve seen of his Quirk, I mean.”

Ah shit, Max was definitely getting suspicious of him now. Why did Nick have to come up? Goro can never stop himself when Nick is involved, he always finds himself making jabs at him even if the logical part of his brain is yelling it’s a bad idea. And now he’s being compared to… Nick’s dad? Before Max could finish his sentence, Goro relexify gagged. It was only a moment before he stopped himself, but it would’ve been noticeable all the same.

Well, Max was clearly aware of his relation to Nick now anyway. “You… you could say I’m his older brother. But we aren’t related by blood. We didn’t exactly have a father, either. Maybe if we had, he wouldn’t have ended up as such a pathetic failure.” Goro tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him that the same could be said for himself.

Some of Max’s points about the quirkless, he couldn’t quite find an argument against. He couldn’t bring himself to agree with him, but no matter how much he wracked his brain he just couldn’t argue with what Max was saying about absolutism. Goro may have radical views regarding the quirkless, but he isn’t stupid. As a man of science, simply closing his mind to opposing view points would never get him anywhere.

“If they haven’t done anything to actively attack those with Quirks, or if they’re actively helping us already, obviously there’s nothing to gain by actively attacking them. But if they’re against us, they should understand how foolish that is.” He held his tongue past that, unwilling to emphasize just how much force he thought should be involved in bringing that understanding. This is a military expo, after all, and views like that probably wouldn’t be well received by the ones running it. “They do need us, you’re right there, but I don’t know if they’ll realize that the way you think.

Max calling him Dick again forced a chuckle out of Goro. He hadn’t been expecting it. “Something good about Nick? Absolutely not. Not that I can think of.” It had been long enough that the cut on his right wing had healed up enough to be no longer visible, but thinking about Nick brought the stinging back. He reflexively rubbed the part of his wing that had bore the injury.

The difference in tone between Max talking about Nick and him continuing their argument was starting to become clear. It seemed he was putting far more time and effort into choosing his words, and Goro felt like he was trying to manipulate him. This wasn’t something he appreciated; who does this kid think he is? What has he seen that makes him oh so much smarter?

He had to be more careful with what he was saying, then. Don’t give Max anymore space to push in. “Sure. But what if the majority doesn’t change that easily? It’s been a long time since Quirks first appeared, and society has only recently started accepting us at all. People with quirks, especially mutants, are still treated like garbage, and there isn’t adequate pushback from people who aren’t ‘actively against us’. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share of abuse from the quirkless. Can we really wait and just hope that being nice to them will be enough?”

He’d underestimated Max, that was clear to him. With his appearance, Max looked like someone who was more brawn than brains, but obviously that was not the case. “And yes, some of them will only want to listen if another quirkless person is the one telling them, but that’s why making them listen is important.” He wasn’t going to respond to Max’s last statement; what he’d said prior he felt was enough.

This argument was getting tiring. This kid may have been smarter than Goro had been expecting, but as far as he was concerned he was still too immature. One can only be so patient waiting for a society that rejects them to change before they start to lose it. Someone so young would obviously not understand that, though. They’d still be more idealistic, even if they thought themselves as more of a realist. They’d still believe that it’d be possible for someone who just put up with that treatment completely peacefully; that one who can’t take it anymore and lashes out is in the wrong.

He noticed Max’s attitude shift slightly, and figured he’d hit on a nerve with the talk of quirkless abusing them. He didn’t feel bad about it, though. The kid had poked at the same emotional wounds on Goro, there’s nothing wrong with Goro doing the same back. “I don’t think we’re expecting too much from society by wanting them to not try and kill us solely because we’re different. Laws and governmental entities dealing with Quirk-related business are obviously going to take a long time to establish and settle into something reasonable, but if the quirkless still can’t handle our existence on a personal level that’s something that won’t change unless we make them change.” He responded, his gaze moving back to the tesla cannon. Or get rid of them, he thought.

He was glad Max was moving to end the argument, but like hell was he letting Max get the last word in. “Arguing about this here serves no purpose, you’re right. Actions speak louder than words ever could, so all discussing this is doing is delaying any actual effect either of us could have on the situation. Considering we’re in agreement on that matter at least, there’s no point in us continuing to talk about it. Goodbye.” He pushed himself away from the wall with his wings, and started towards the cannon, hoping in his mind that Max doesn't try and follow him for some reason. Even if he knew it was unimpressive compared to the potential feats of Quirkers, he figured he might as well take some notes on it before he leaves for the day. He didn’t want the kid’s name and didn’t intend to give him his own, lest either of them runs into the other again.